Santa Barbara, CA (AHN) - A recent study revealed that there are very few ocean areas, if any, that remain untouched by human influence and activities.
Upon mapping out the areas influenced by humans in some way, scientists discovered that every ocean in the world had been tampered with or affected in some way by human activities, such as fishing, pollution or global warming.
The findings were determined by a global map created by a University of California team. The map indicated the level and nature of damage to marine ecosystems, revealing the parts of the world's oceans that might have managed to remain pure and pristine.
A range of scores of 17 kinds of human influence was assigned, and then tallied for every ocean, eventually showing the extent of human impact on the world's waters.
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The map showed that 40 percent of the marine ecosystems garnered either a "medium high" or "high" human impact, taking in factors such as shipping lanes, oil and gas exploration and invasive species, according to Bloomberg. The analysis looked into the effects on reefs, continental shelves and mangroves.
The study revealed that the areas of the Mediterranean, east Caribbean, Persian Gulf, Norwegian Sea, Bering Sea, North America's east coast and the Sri Lanka waters were the ones most affected by human activity.
What with continent-sized plastic-filled gyres and dead zones, I'd say we're doing a heck of a job!
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